Cartridge Box and Bullet c. 1937

Manuel G. Runyan made this watercolour of a Cartridge Box and Bullet. The warm hues of brown and tan create a sense of something held and cared for, like a beloved leather jacket. Imagine Runyan, squinting slightly, deeply immersed in the folds and intricacies of this little brown box. You can almost feel the weight of his gaze as he tries to capture every detail. It's fascinating how Runyan includes different schematics of the box on the canvas. I wonder if this was his way of understanding the object, turning it over in his mind, trying to see all its sides at once. I see the history of still life, a conversation across generations. Each artist brings their own curiosity and passion to the act of looking, rendering, and representing. The way Runyan embraced the quiet, the stillness, the humble nature of everyday objects. In doing so, he found a kind of beauty in the ordinary, proving that art could be found anywhere if you just took the time to look.